HB388 Summary - Alabama Literacy Act

• Establishes the Alabama Literacy Act to improve reading proficiency for kindergarten through third grade students, requiring students to read at or above grade level by end of third grade.

• Creates a standing task force convened by State Superintendent of Education to recommend comprehensive core reading programs, teacher development standards, and approved reading assessment systems for use by local education agencies.

• Requires local education agencies to provide comprehensive core reading programs based on science of reading, with reading intervention programs for students with reading deficiencies or dyslexia characteristics, plus summer reading camps for identified struggling readers.

• Establishes mandatory third grade promotion standards based on board-approved reading assessments with limited good cause exemptions; students not meeting standards cannot be promoted to fourth grade unless exemption criteria are met.

• Implements Alabama Reading Initiative with regional literacy specialists and local reading specialists to provide professional development and coaching to elementary school teachers, with special focus on lowest-performing schools.